Run
by Navona
Summary: She’s in Cardiff, running from an alien, during her first day on the job at Torchwood. Gen.


**Title**: Run  
**Spoilers**: Nothing much, really.  
**Rating**: PG  
**Summary**: She's in Cardiff, running from an alien, during her first day on the job at Torchwood.

"Run, Rose Tyler," says the man gripping her hand, and Rose smiles, looking down at their intertwined fingers, and does.

She's in Cardiff, running from an alien, during her first day on the job at Torchwood. It's not something she ever thought she'd join, especially not after the Battle of Canary Wharf but ever since she got trapped here it's been in the back of her mind, that she _should_ join Torchwood, that she should _do_ something with all her knowledge. But she didn't know if she could do it and besides what would she tell them? They'd look her up, find that Rose Tyler didn't exist and then what? They'd leave her in a cell until they got around to further questioning? No. Rose decided to stay right where she was.

Until one day, after hacking once again into the Torchwood site, she idly clicked on the link to the Cardiff branch. About to click out again, she saw the name of its director, and her heart stopped. Then she called Torchwood, packed her things and went to Cardiff.

It wasn't the same man, she knew that. This wasn't _her_ Captain Jack, the one who had danced with her in the middle of wartime London, who had saved her life so many times, and who could never find his way around the TARDIS properly. But she couldn't help but hope that there was something of her Jack in him, even if he didn't know her.

So she met Jack at the cafe he'd described on the phone and he was so almost _exactly_ how she remembered that she told herself she couldn't see the differences. His smile was so achingly familiar that for a minute she could have been back on the TARDIS, and she had to clench her fists to make sure it didn't show.

She had taken the risk on the phone; she'd given him her real name, told him that she had experience in his field and was now expecting questions about it, but to his credit Jack didn't ask her anything, just sat back in his chair and smiled at her the way he always had. She could feel his eyes roaming over her and her mind darted back to flirting on the TARDIS, but she smiled back as well as she could and tried to pretend that there was nothing wrong.

"So you want to join Torchwood, huh?" Jack asked her and Rose nodded. Jack tilted his head to the side, looked at her for a moment and then stood up. "Guess you'd better come meet the team then."

The hub was nothing like Rose had expected. It didn't look anything like the Torchwood she had encountered at Canary Wharf and when she got inside she was surprised to see that only five people made up the team.  
"Easier to manage," Jack explained, seeing the look on her face. "Too many and they start rebelling."

As he introduced her to each of them, Rose noted the mistrustful look on each face. She wondered what Jack had told them.  
"What do you think of the hub?" One man – Owen – asked loudly, and Rose looked at him for a moment before turning to study her surroundings more carefully. Then she saw the head on the table not far away and she gasped.  
"That's a Jargorian head!" she said, eyes wide. "But they're extinct, aren't they? How did you get one?"

In one fluid movement, the team was surrounding her, locking her in a tight circle. Jack moved forward, eyes hard.  
"Who are you, Rose Tyler?" he demanded. "We looked you up, you don't exist."

Rose nodded slightly. This was what she'd been waiting for.  
"It's a long story," she said. "It might take a while."

She told it as well and accurately as she could, and when she mentioned the Doctor they all fell silent.  
"You've traveled with the Doctor?" the one she thought was called Ianto asked. "_The_ Doctor?"  
"Not _your_ Doctor," Rose felt compelled to say. "Parallel Universe Doctor."  
"That's how you know all this? From the Doctor?" Jack wanted to know and Rose nodded.  
"And what are you doing here?" Owen demanded, eyes still narrowed. "You just happened to end up in Cardiff, did you?"

Rose hesitated.  
"Well?" Owen demanded again.  
"It was Jack," Rose said, wondering what reaction this would cause. "Jack was… he traveled with us. In my world. Him, me, the Doctor… we all of us traveled together. And when I saw him here… I had to come."

Jack paused and then stepped back, finally looking mollified as the others glanced at him.

"I always thought he'd have good taste," Jack said, flashing that grin at her. He looked her over again. "And you and I, Rose Tyler? I bet we had some fun." He winked and Rose laughed, thinking how inherently _Jack_ he was, and she felt happier than she had in a long time. Then something beeped loudly.

Tosh hurried over to her computer.  
"Jack, time to go," she said and suddenly everyone was moving.  
"You're coming with us," Jack said to Rose. "We've got a Jargorian and maybe _you'll_ have some idea what to do about it."

And just like that they're off, fighting aliens and Rose thinks how _good_ it feels to be back to that. They're chasing it, and then suddenly it's chasing them and then she's standing in an alleyway with Jack and somehow the Doctor could be just over there, getting them out of trouble, ready to take them back to the TARDIS for another adventure.

But he's not, and Rose thinks that maybe that doesn't matter, that it's enough to be here and fighting and _doing_ something with her life. The alien's coming and Jack reaches out to grab her hand, smiling as he does so.

"Run, Rose Tyler," Captain Jack Harkness says, and Rose smiles, looking down at their intertwined fingers, and does.


End file.
